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Original poster

Is office work bitchy ?

54 replies

Cinderellaspumpkin · 07/04/2023 13:19

I have a friend who had worked in a residential home for adults with learning disabilities since leaving school, ( approx. 8 years).
Whilst at school/ college she worked weekends in a local shop.

She's now recently started an admin job in a local office. She's told me she cannot believe how bitchy the office is, and my partner, ( who works on the railways,) laughed and essentially said , "everyone knows office work is bitchy, they don't have real work to do so bitch about each other all day."

It got me thinking, I have worked in some pretty bitchy offices.

Is office work bitchier than other sectors ?

Examples of bitchniness in friends office;

,- laughing at overweight colleagues eating large lunches,

  • laughing at new girl for wearing unflattering clothes/ having spots,
  • Creating work office WhatsApp group chat with everyone but one member etc
OP posts:
mynameiscalypso · 07/04/2023 13:21

I've worked in offices all my life. They are sometimes people who are arseholes but I've never encountered that kind of behaviour. If anything, my team now is too nice and mildly irritating!

JimmyDurham · 07/04/2023 13:23

You've described every office I ever worked in.

Albiboba · 07/04/2023 13:24

and my partner, ( who works on the railways,) laughed and essentially said , "everyone knows office work is bitchy, they don't have real work to do so bitch about each other all day."

Judging your partner hard for this comment.

Whataretheodds · 07/04/2023 13:25

I've never encountered the scenarios you describe, in 20 years of office work

Lyricallie · 07/04/2023 13:27

Nope not in the offices I’ve worked in. Made some of my best friends and if someone acted like that they would be quickly put in their place.

samestyle · 07/04/2023 13:28

Every workforce is somewhat bitchy/ bullying, where you have a group of people basically. I've worked in quite a few different sectors, there's always at least someone who makes life difficult.

TheHoover · 07/04/2023 13:30

How long is a piece of string?

gingersnappz · 07/04/2023 13:31

Not all are no. The office I manage currently has a great atmosphere and everyone is really supportive of each other.

One of my staff however came from an office where she said she was afraid to be herself because of the environment.

AgrathaChristie · 07/04/2023 13:31

I experienced all the examples you’ve written in a college. Group of lecturers would not only bitch about each other but the students as well. It was horrible to hear and I left asap.

Towmatertomato · 07/04/2023 13:31

My current work place is lovely. Either people don't involve me in the bitching (long may that last!) Or the place I work at is filled with genuinely nice people.

MrsDoylesDoily · 07/04/2023 13:31

It sounds like your partner is bitchier than any of them 😒

MrsToothyBitch · 07/04/2023 13:33

I think any work environment can be. I came across a couple of really bitchy teams when I was in retail. My first office job was alongside soldiers and they looooove a moan but all knew how to pull together so you did feel supported and part of something when it came down to it.

My current office is bigger, with lots of teams. Everyone is friendly so definitely not bitchy but much like school, I can perceive I'm not in the cool gang & find it a bit cliquey on occasion!

dietcokelime · 07/04/2023 13:33

That sort of culture is dependent on the people who work there, not the building they work in.

Your partner works outside and sounds like a proper bitch! Hope they know it's probably office workers sorting their payroll, contracts for the railway work, ordering their supplies etc etc. Sounds like your partner has a lovely relaxing outdoor job, office workers could only dream of such little responsibility and so much fresh air!

TimeForMeToF1y · 07/04/2023 13:34

An office isn't a thing, all workplaces are different, of course some of them will be bitchier than others just like schools/retail/factories/hospitals etc,

I think that's pretty obvious

Mary46 · 07/04/2023 13:34

I temped alot. Some very nice. Some not. Always shock at grown women and pettiness) their back to me at lunch groups. Left out of chats that type of crap.

suzyscat · 07/04/2023 13:35

Hell yes. It's worse than the playground.
Cliques, hierarchies even who is having lunch with whom politics.

They're not all like that but I've worked in more than a few that are entirely like that.

KettrickenSmiled · 07/04/2023 13:41

Is office work bitchier than other sectors ?

Of course it is OP.

In other news, all hairdressers watch Fantasy Island, all plumbers holiday in Cumbria, all riding instructors enjoy peanut butter, & all nurses are obsessed with storage units.

Did your friend not have this explained to her by HR, with accompanying documentation when she sat her personality test?

If not, she has grounds for a formal complaint, & should take it up with her union. As a friendly pointer, let her know that all trade union staff love camping, so if she wants to ingratiate herself, she should bring a portable gas stove to any meetings.

Flavabobble · 07/04/2023 13:45

The most repulsive, toxic, nasty, waste-of-space creature I have ever worked with, was in a shop. The second worst was in a factory. The 35 years in between, in a couple of different jobs, including retail had a bit of gossip but no real bitching.

Luredbyapomegranate · 07/04/2023 14:19

I have worked on offices for 25 years.
Have never had that.

Anyway don’t be daft, your friend has just caught a bad one, and your partner is being misogynistic.

youveturnedupwelldone · 07/04/2023 14:20

It's not inherently bitchy. But what you tend to find with bitchiness (and indeed bullying) is that the nice people vote with their feet and leave, and you end up with a bitchy/bully office as there are plenty of them in the world and like gathers like.

In the organisation I work in (I am quite new) they seem to have collected about 3000 bitchy bullies, it's quite something.

Whatthefnow · 07/04/2023 14:25

Oh god why have I read this today. I start a new job on Tuesday and im dreading it. I left my lovely job yesterday where I was the only woman.

RosesAndHellebores · 07/04/2023 14:30

Some offices are. Some of the secretaries in the City banks I worked for seemed to hunt down anyone different from them in packs. It was truly awful.

Pipsquiggle · 07/04/2023 14:31

I have worked in lots of different offices. My experience is that the more diverse the workplace, the more pleasant it is to work in.

By diverse, I mean:
Age
Gender
Education
Different thinking styles
Faith
Different career experience to the job you're doing
By getting the above you tend to get more tolerance.

The worst office culture was when I worked in an office full of women. All from the same town, all lived for going out in a Friday night. They were pretty bitchy. They couldn't understand why I wanted to move to London

Bayleaf25 · 07/04/2023 14:32

Whataretheodds · 07/04/2023 13:25

I've never encountered the scenarios you describe, in 20 years of office work

Ditto - I’ve probably done office work for almost 30 years and always had lovely colleagues (lots of fun and friendships).

nomoremerlot · 07/04/2023 14:33

Cinderellaspumpkin · 07/04/2023 13:19

I have a friend who had worked in a residential home for adults with learning disabilities since leaving school, ( approx. 8 years).
Whilst at school/ college she worked weekends in a local shop.

She's now recently started an admin job in a local office. She's told me she cannot believe how bitchy the office is, and my partner, ( who works on the railways,) laughed and essentially said , "everyone knows office work is bitchy, they don't have real work to do so bitch about each other all day."

It got me thinking, I have worked in some pretty bitchy offices.

Is office work bitchier than other sectors ?

Examples of bitchniness in friends office;

,- laughing at overweight colleagues eating large lunches,

  • laughing at new girl for wearing unflattering clothes/ having spots,
  • Creating work office WhatsApp group chat with everyone but one member etc

Tell your OH. I work in an office and working fucking hard!

Shall we discuss the railway workers, working ethics?

He sounds like someone out of the 1950s, stereotyping "office workers"!

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